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The buntings are a group of
Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...
birds forming the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Emberiza'', the only genus in the
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Emberizidae. The family contains 45 species. They are
seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
-eating birds with stubby, conical bills.


Taxonomy

The family Emberizidae was formerly much larger and included the species now placed in the
Passerellidae New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...
(New World sparrows) and
Calcariidae Calcariidae is a small family of passerine birds. It includes longspurs and snow buntings. There are six species in three genera worldwide, found mainly in North America and Eurasia. They are migratory and can live in a variety of habitats includ ...
(longspurs and snow buntings). Molecular phylogenetic studies found that the large family consisted of distinct clades that were better treated as separate families. The
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Emberiza'' is now the only genus placed in the family Emberizidae. The genus was introduced by the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''
Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...
''. The
type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
was subsequently designated as the
yellowhammer The yellowhammer (''Emberiza citrinella'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family that is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the breeding range year-round, but the eastern ...
(''Emberiza citrinella''). The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from
Old German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
''Embritz'', a bunting. The origin of the English "bunting" is unknown. A 2008 genetic study found that three emberizid species that were placed in their own
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
genera clustered within the ''Emberiza''. These were the
crested bunting The crested bunting (''Emberiza lathami'') is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae. Distribution and habitat It is found from the Himalayas eastwards to highland areas of Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry ...
(''Melophus lathami''), the
slaty bunting The slaty bunting (''Emberiza siemsseni'') is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae. Appearance An adult Slaty bunting measures 13 centimeters in length and weighs 20 grams. The plumages are brown and highly distinctive with unusual tail f ...
(''Latouchiornis siemsseni''), and the
corn bunting The corn bunting (''Emberiza calandra'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. This is a large bunting with heavily streaked buff-brown plumage. The se ...
(''Miliaria calandra''). All three species are now included in the genus ''Emberiza''. A large DNA-based study of the passerines published in 2019 found that the buntings are most closely related to the longspurs and snow buntings in the family
Calcariidae Calcariidae is a small family of passerine birds. It includes longspurs and snow buntings. There are six species in three genera worldwide, found mainly in North America and Eurasia. They are migratory and can live in a variety of habitats includ ...
. Ornithologists
Edward Dickinson Edward Dickinson (January 1, 1803 – June 16, 1874) was an American politician from Massachusetts. He is also known as the father of the poet Emily Dickinson; their family home in Amherst, the Dickinson Homestead, is a museum dedicated to her. ...
and
Leslie Christidis Leslie Christidis (born 30 May 1959), also simply known as Les Christidis, is an Australian ornithologist. His main research field is the evolution and systematics of birds. He has been director of Southern Cross University National Marine Scienc ...
in the fourth edition of the ''
Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World The ''Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World'' is a book by Richard Howard and Alick Moore which presents a list of the bird species of the world. It was the first single-volume world bird list to include subspecies names, ...
'' chose to split up ''Emberiza'' and recognise the genera ''Fringillaria'', ''Melophus'', ''Granativora'', ''Emberiza'', and ''Schoeniclus''. Their example has not been followed by the online version of the ''
Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...
'' nor by
Frank Gill Frank Gill may refer to: * Frank Gill (Australian footballer) (1908–1970), Australian rules footballer with Carlton * Frank Gill (footballer, born 1948), footballer for Tranmere Rovers *Frank Gill (politician) (1917–1982), New Zealand politicia ...
and David Donsker in the list of world birds that they maintain on behalf of the
International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...
. The
British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry ...
has argued that splitting the genus provides little benefit and destabilizes the nomenclature. Species in the
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
genus ''
Passerina The genus ''Passerina'' is a group of birds in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). Although not directly related to Bunting (bird), buntings in the family Emberizidae, they are sometimes known as the North American buntings (the North American ...
'' include the word "bunting" in their common names, but are now classed in the family
Cardinalidae Cardinalidae (often referred to as the "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply the "cardinals") is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several birds such as the tanager-like ...
. The family is divided into four major clades. The species in Clade I are mainly African while those in Clades II to IV are Palearctic: The above
cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...
is based on a study published in 2021. The phylogenetic relationships of two African species, the brown-rumped bunting (''Emberiza affinis'') and
Vincent's bunting Vincent's bunting (''Emberiza vincenti'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Cape bunting The Cape bunting (''Emberiza capensis'') is a passerine bird in the bunting (bird), ...
(''Emberiza vincenti''), were not determined in the study.


List of species

The genus contains 45 species. Extinct species have been described: * †
Long-legged bunting The long-legged bunting (''Emberiza alcoveri'') is an extinct flightless species of bunting. It was distinguishable by its long legs and short wings, and it inhabited Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. It is one of the few flightless passeri ...
(''Emberiza alcoveri'') (
Late Quaternary The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together ...
) * † '' Emberiza shaamarica'' (Late Pliocene of Central Asia) * † '' Emberiza polgardiensis'' (Upper Miocene of Hungary) * † '' Emberiza media'' (Pliocene of Hungary) * † '' Emberiza parva'' (Pliocene of Hungary) * †'' Emberiza gaspariskii'' (Pliocene of Hungary) * †'' Emberiza bartoki'' (Middle Miocene of Hungary) (Nomen dubium) ''Emberiza pannonica'' from the upper Miocene of Hungary is also referred to this genus, but was later found to be a member of
Muscicapidae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Norther ...
.


References


Further reading

''Buntings and Sparrows - A Guide to the Buntings and North American Sparrows'' by Urban Olsson and Jon Curson, illustrated by Clive Byers (1995)


External links


Bunting videos, photos and sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q614481, from2=Q28486 Bird common names . Finches Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus